I'm using a 21-cu ft. fridge located in an unheated garage as my fermentation chamber. I'm currently struggling to keep a 5- gal batch of saison in a plastic bucket fermenting at 72 F.

I've tried using both a fermenter wrap with the inlaid wiring inside plastic around the bucket and an old heating pad underneath the bucket. Neither will get the job done when the temp outside the garage is in the 30-degree F range. The temp will stall out at about 68 F.

I've thought about brooder lights like are used in hen houses for young chicks, but I'm afraid the light would penetrate the white plastic bucket and skunk the developing brew.

On the other hand, I've just ordered a S/S fermenter so that could be a solution for future.

I'd like any suggestions (easy and cheap preferred) to fix the problem.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

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It's easier to read brewing books and get information from the forum than to sacrifice virgins to appease the brewing gods when bad beer happens!

I'm using a 21-cu ft. fridge located in an unheated garage as my fermentation chamber. I'm currently struggling to keep a 5- gal batch of saison in a plastic bucket fermenting at 72 F.

I've tried using both a fermenter wrap with the inlaid wiring inside plastic around the bucket and an old heating pad underneath the bucket. Neither will get the job done when the temp outside the garage is in the 30-degree F range. The temp will stall out at about 68 F.

I've thought about brooder lights like are used in hen houses for young chicks, but I'm afraid the light would penetrate the white plastic bucket and skunk the developing brew.

On the other hand, I've just ordered a S/S fermenter so that could be a solution for future.

I'd like any suggestions (easy and cheap preferred) to fix the problem.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Small oil filled radiator type heater and an old quilt or sleeping bag for insulation

Does it need to be in the ferm chamber? Keep it in your house and add some heat to it.

This is a good suggestion.

For reference, I use a 7cu ft fridge in an unheated garage, in Vermont, that routinely sees temps well below zero all winter. This is my fermentation chamber. I use a 40W light bulb with a SS brewtech brewbucket. I never have issues keeping temp up towards 75 when I D rest.

Also I use a 100W ceramic heater like the reptile ones denny suggested. They are usually around $10 on amazon. I use one in my 12 cu ft chest freezer for all my kegs during winter and it works great.

I use a 100W ceramic reptile heater. The heater is screwed into a ceramic light socket located on the lower rear left side of my fermentation chamber (formerly a kegerator). On the side of the light socket is a 115V receptacle where I plugged in a USB adapter. Plugged in to the adapter is a very small fan I mounted on the upper front right side of the chamber to help stratify the heat within the chamber. The ceramic light socket (heating side) and the cooling side of my chamber are plugged in to my Inkbird controller. System works great! The heating side of this system cost under $35 complete.

« Last Edit: September 19, 2018, 12:34:55 PM by KellerBrauer »

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All good things come to those who show patients and perseverance while maintaining a positive and progressive attitude. :-)

I like a "low mass" heat source. Things like snake rocks tend to take a while to heat up and cool down. So they hit the high mark, your controller turns it off, but since the rock stays piping hot for a while, your beer temp keeps rising, causing the cold side to kick on. Now the cooler is trying to chill the rock, and you get an overkill underkill cycle going.

I prefer a heat pad. Costs about $15 on Amazon. Quickly heats and cools off quickly. If you go this route make sure you get one that does not have the automatic cutoff safety thing, intended to protect people from falling asleep on it. With a large heat pad I can maintain 90f in my 17cf freezer so long as my shop stays above 40f. Sometimes in the winter my shop is 0f, or lower, and I can easily hold 65f.

Air circulation could be nice, but sometimes I open ferment... I just use dry-z-air or damp rid to control moisture